Editors Guild welcomes SC judgment on sedition case in opposition to journalist Vinod Dua
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A day after the Supreme Court quashed a sedition case lodged in Himachal Pradesh in opposition to journalist Vinod Dua whereas stressing that “a citizen has the right to criticise or comment upon the measures undertaken by a government”, the Editors Guild of India welcomed the judgment.
Saying the judgment “underlines the importance of protecting journalists from sedition cases”, the Guild appreciated the apex courtroom’s considerations over the “chilling effect that sedition laws have on free media and democracy”.
“While the reference to the earlier judgment of Justice Kedar Nath Singh and the need to protect journalists from sedition charges is welcomed, the manner in which such laws are implemented by law enforcement authorities in different parts of the country, leading to pre-trial incarceration, needs further intervention by the apex court,” the Guild stated in an announcement.
It added, “The Guild demands repeal of these draconian and antiquated laws that find no space in any modern liberal democracy.”
The Himachal Pradesh police had registered an FIR in opposition to Dua for sedition, public mischief and different offences over the contents of a chat present broadcast on YouTube final 12 months. The FIR was registered on a grievance filed by Ajay Shyam, a neighborhood BJP chief, that Dua “had asserted that the Prime Minister used deaths and terror attacks to garner votes and that the Prime Minister garnered votes through acts of terrorism” within the Hindi speak present uploaded on March 30, 2020.
A bench of Justices U U Lalit and Vineet Saran stated each journalist is entitled to safety specified underneath the Supreme Court’s 1962 judgment within the Kedar Nath Singh vs State Of Bihar case.
The bench dominated that “every journalist will be entitled to protection in terms of Kedar Nath Singh, as every prosecution under Sections 124A (sedition) and 505 (public mischief) of the IPC must be in strict conformity with the scope and ambit of said sections as explained in, and completely in tune with the law laid down in Kedar Nath Singh”.
